It’s important the teachers understand duty of care responsibilities. Teachers have to be aware of and able to account for children at all times. Inside and outside classrooms, this is a number one priority.

If it is necessary to leave the classroom for urgent reasons, ask a nearby teacher to keep an eye on the class while you are out of the room. It may not always be possible to have a colleague fill this role. That being the case, having someone from the school office come up and keep an eye on children for a brief period of time will cover this responsibility. If a support staff member (not a teacher but a person who works with teachers for the betterment of children) is available, that will suffice.

Duty of care is a common sense issue. If the accident, injury or class mishap occurs and no teacher is present, the onus can come back on the teacher.

One aspect of care that can be easily overlooked is yard duty. Those rostered on our “loco parentis” responsible in duty of care terms for the whole of their rostered time. Teachers cannot be late out or leave their duty early. A person who is rostered for duty “first” recess or lunch, needs to wait until the “second” person on the roster is out and about.

Accident or injury that occurs in the duty area but without the teacher being on duty can leave teachers liable for negligence and worse.

If unsure about duty arrangements or responsibilities, checking with school leadership teams or classroom teachers have been there for a good while is highly advisable.

This is a priority issue, one that cannot be left to chance.